Today Swami materialized a Lingam & gave it to the
Head priest
(Pradan Archak) of the Athi Rudra Maha Yagnam

Offering humble pranams to Atma swaroopas,
Another fruitful day in the land of our most beloved Swamy… Amidst
thousands of devotees from all over the world, the proceedings of
today’s Ati Rudra Mahayagna, combined with Sri Krishna Janmastami,
came to an end this evening…with a fantastic and very interesting
divine discourse by our Swamy, who out of His immense mercy has been
blessing with divine discourses since the start of Yagna…
This evening 2 boys of Swamy’s college spoke in His presence.. the
second one, a very familiar and frequent speaker, brother, Sanjay
Mahalingam, gave a superb talk on various topics including the
teachings of Adi Sankaracharya. The talks were so impressive and
elaborative that Swamy, appreciating them, commented, “What is there
is for Me to speak?”
Inspite of saying that, Swamy gave a elaborative discourse, touching
various topics on charity, Shiva, Sathya Sai organization
activities, importance of water Wealth and lastly about His
students….
Swamy asked for discourse table around 5pm as the table was placed,
He rose from His thorne and as all of us were clapping our hands, He
slowly walked into the interview room surprising every one of us and
leaving a big smile on our faces…
After about 5mins Swamy came back, with His sweet smile,walked to
His chair, and blessed all of us with His divine discourse.
EXCERPTS FROM THE DISCOURSE:
Embodiments of love
After the previous speakers spoke so well, I decided not to speak
today… There is no great act of charity than providing food to the
hungry. There is no greater penance than adherence to truth…what is
more profitable in this world other than the company of good
people(telugu poem)
Emobodiments of Love,
In this world, we need food to live, with out food we cant live..
where from this food comes? It comes from eternal, infinite Shiva….
(Shankara) all that you see in this world are the manifestations of
God. All that you see in present, past, and future are the
manifestations of Godo Only Parvathi recognized this truth. All the
Gods went to her and said, how come you are so young, and Shiva
looks older. Your husband wears tiger’s skin, and moves around on a
bull.He rests in burial ground. How foolishly you married Him(Shiva).
Couldn’t you recognize. But Parvathi, instead of feeling sad, just
laughed at them.. Parvathi replied, I don’t see Shiva in His
external form.. You restrict your self to Shiva’s physical form. You
have to understand the tiny form which is in the body.. He is not
the body, not the mind.. He is in the form of Linga. This linga is
not visible to any one. Its present in His neck. I have realized
that form that is why, I am after Him.. you know His real form only
to some extent.. but God is present in every atom. Photos

GOD IS PRESENT EVERY WHERE:
The world runs after Beauty. You don’t realize the truth… no one
estimates His form . When the whole unverse is His form can you
limit His form to a temple?.
He whose effulgence is that of millions of lights can you limit His
light to a tiny candle?
He who is present in all the rivers, seas, oceans, how can you give
Him a bath?.
When He resides in every one of our hearts, how can you give him a
house?
None can do any thing to God. He is in the micro form.. (Swamy
materializes a tiny golden Linga of about 1inch size and gave it to
the head preist).
You only see the external form.. so none can understand divinity.
None can decide what is to be offered to God. Many foreigners,
today, ask, why are you offering grains in the fire? Why do you pour
ghee in the fire?Is it not wasting? There are so many who are
starving for food and why do you offer it in the fire. All the
offerings given by the priests bear results for sure.. the grains
that you offer to God, every thing will give results in multiples in
future. In this way what ever you offer to God, it will come back in
thousand times to you in future”
Swamy continued “What is to be offered.. The mind full of desires
should be offered to God, once you give up all the desires. Every
desire of yours will come back to you and and support you and help
you in future”..
“When the Gods made fun of Shiva Parvathi reported all this to
Him..Shiva replied, there is no use to built a house, rats will go
into the house before we go in.. Then we have to get a cat.. when
you have a cat, you have to have milk, to have milk you need a cow..
to buy a cow we need money.. I don’t have money..running a family is
not a smallaffair.. so don’t crave for worldly things.Later Shiva
manifested in a such a way that He looked as young as Parvathi
surprising the whole world.”
YOU ARE NOT THE BODY
“No one can understand in depth the inner reality.. they go by OUT
LOOK. Its like a package (wrapping ) unless you open you don’t see
what it is in side. Divinity is covered by 5 elements.. When you
open this package, youwill see the bliss full form of God.. so never
go by the external form (package),it might look beautiful but see
what is inside.. Manyof us are carried away by external form.
Out side, you see frame of a body, this body is of 5 elements, its
bound to fall, the indeweller is permanent, He has no beginning nor
end.. He is verily God. So never go by physical apperance. God is
present in us. We are God.YOU ARE GOD. God is not present any where.
He is present in MAN. God is present in every beings. Where is
divinity? It is inside the PACKAGE .Realise this truth.
.when you have UNITY.. You will have PURITY. out of purity comes
DIVINITY..change the purity within you into DIVINITY. You are one
person. The one you think you are..the one others think you are and
the one you really are. You are GOD. You are one person and not
three
You are embodiment of atma. Bieng the Atma. Why do you say you are
body? mind , senses All these are bound to fall. I will explain all
this things tomorrow. Its already late today".. (Saying this Swamy
sat on His Thorne.. and helped Himself to position the mike and sang
an interesting and rare bhajan
Shiva Shiva Shiva Shiva Anarada Shiva Chintalella Bapikona Manarada
Sing the glory of Lord Shiva and ask Him to take away all your
worries.
Shivamethi Jagamantha Tirigevu O chittama Nee Kenta Siggulede
O Mind, how shameful it is that you move around irresponsibily
It was only 20 mins since Swamy started His divine discourse and we
all thought He would end here, but He continued His discourse seated
on His thorne.

Photos
“Never consider Shiva, Brahama and Vishnu as different. All the
three are same. .To chew pan, you need to have betel nut and you
need betel leaf and lime.. when all this three combine there is red
colour. Where form the red colur comes The unity of all the three
gives red colour. So Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva are one and the same.
Never consider divinity as dual and spoil your mind. All that you
see in this world, wealth, possession are useless.
YOU TAKE NOTHING WHEN YOU DIE:
“Alexander the great came to India with a big army. He came to river
sindhu, which is near Kashmir. While trying to cross the river he
had a heart attack. Doctors examined him and said this is a serious
attack and there is no scope of survival. He said, fine, I am fine
but I have a desire, after I die, let my hands be tied and let them
be out side the coffin so that people can know Alexander the great
who had every thing, money, soldiers, friends and releatives.. He
left this world with empty hands.. He took nothing .. absolutely.
NOTHING..
Harishchandra who ruled this world adhering to truth did he not
leave this world?.
King Nara who owned the whole world did he take any thing with him?
Sri Rama who ruled Ayodhya did he take any thing?
All the kings, emperors what did they take ,they didn’t take even a
naya paisa , not even a fistful of mud.
People boast that they are millionaires.. the other day in
Hyderabad, one acre land was sold for 40 crores rupees. The person
went to registration office while returning home he died. What
happened to all his land.. only good deeds come with us after our
death. .Money is necessary to certain extent.. TOO MUCH MONEY IS
VERY BAD.. it will even kill you. You need money to maintain your
family. You should also help the society. You are part of the
society. There fore you should help the society. SELF and HELP both
are important. Don’t be selfish. Fish is better than selfish.. this
way spend joyful life."
PEACE IS WITH IN YOU:
"IAM ALWAYS HAPPY.. I don’t know what is SORROW.. PAIN.. I have no
idea. The president of India asked me Swamy what is that you ask
for?.. I said, I want to be Myself. I want all the people to be
happy. When all are happy Iam happy. What more I want? President
asked Swamy! dont you need Peace? .I(Swamy) said where is peace?.
peace is inside.. out side all pieces.. I don’t want PIECES…
You may have many degrees, money, you have to give up when you die.
You dont take any thing when you die.. Desire for peace.. Then only
you will will be happy Pray for peace.. That is my desire
In peace there is every thing. You may have all the wealth.. with
out peace all this are of no use. I will speak to you again
tomorrow…
Swamy continued
Ma pillalu Bangaram (OUR BOYS ARE PURE GOLD)
Swamy now shifted the topic to His students,“The boy who spoke now.,
he comes from a very good family (Swamy asks the boy’s father’s
name).This boy came to our college, He left his college in Delhi and
got admssion in our college. Its been three years. Since he is doing
Phd. He never joins any one.. He is all-alone. He always obeys Me..
since then he started giving good talks. He is going through all the
compositions of Adi Sankara. There are lots and lots of boys in our
institution like him”.
Looking at boys Swamy continued “All the boys around are highly
knowledgeable. Another boy here is also our student. Here is Veda
narayana (the tall man who chants Vedas ).. His name is Veda
Narayana.. he is an expert in vedic literature .. last year
president of India called him and gave best teacher award.
He(President) asked with this award where will you go? He said I
will go to Puttaparthi. I have settled in parthi.. The President
said ,you are a very good boy remain there”
Referring to the President Swamy continued “President is an ardent
devotee. He is a muslim even then He likes me so much. He prostrates
before Me. In this way, many elders who visit parthi appreciate our
boys. Every year there 500 boys who graduate from our college All
people are jealous of our boys, because they excel in all fields.
Recently two boys from Alekar, a tiny hamlet, topped in the Medical
entrance exam I gave them scholarships. I accepted the
responsibility of sending them to US .Even in America, they should
get first class.(maa pillalu Bangaram) Our students are pure
Gold…what ever I say, they obey with utmost devotion. Each year they
go to village for one month.. they cook food and distribute the
packages to villagers. All the family members get the prasad
irrespective of the size of the family.. The villagers are very
happy and they ask our students, with eyes full of tears DID OUR
SWAMY SEND THIS PRASAD WITH YOU?People eagerly wait for our boys’
visit.. they decorate the houses, clean the surroundings to welcome
our boys to their village.. our students are not restricted to
studies, they are good in music, dance in every field they are
toppers. I shouldn’t be telling all these to you. THERE IS NOTHING
THAT OUR BOYS CANNOT DO, but where ever they go, they are very
careful about their character..Character is like FIRE. They are very
watchful. Be it boys or girls. In anantapur there are girls. There
are 700 of them. all of them got first class. They also go to
villages. They even build new houses in the place of old one. Our
girls do that. People say, Swamy your girls have done a very good
job, even great engineers cannot match there excellecnce.. all three
campus students, go to villages, and also repair any bridges in bad
condition with the help of local villagers.
Students don’t come here for learning.. DON’T COME HERE FOR
LEARNING.. when you have time you learn. God has given you this life
to serve. You are spark of God.serve every one. Service is God.
Serve all.
Where ever our students go, they are easily recognized, by their
behaviour. They not only wear white dress, there heart is also
pure.. that’s our students.You might have watched, how these boys,
hold me and take care of me when I walk. All these boys are MBAs,
One student is studying medicine in AdiKesavulu’s college. Out side,
you need to pay a hefty fees as much as 50 lakh rupees. but Adi
kesavulu, doesn’t charge even 50 paise to our kids. He has given
free admission to our students.. He is a very good man.
Food, Clothing and Pure Drinking Water:
Our hospitals have all the latest equipment. For heart operation you
need to pay heavy fees out side. So all people come to our hospital.
I have taken three vows. First is food, clothing and Pure drinking
water. I have laid pipelines across the mountains to supply pure
drinking water to the districts of East Godavari and West Godavari
in the state of Andhra Pradesh there is lot of water underneath. But
so far no one has reached it.Its not an easy task.. I spend 80 crore
rupees, to supply pure drinking water to these 2 districts”.
Swamy continued “You do not know what is happening as you are here.
The other day, the news in the news papers was that Madras was
supplied drinking water. Don’t think Its boasting. About 50 buses of
devotees came and said, Swamy how can we thank you?.. I said never
thank Me.. You are mine so I am helping you. ITS MY DUTY. They said,
we want drinking water.. Chennai city is surrounded by sea. But they
don’t have even a drop of drinking water.Yesterday the water from
Krishna river reached Chennai at the auspicious time. On pura ahuti
day, minister is going to inaugarate the drinking water supply.
Today, they(people of Chennai) say, we are drinking pure water
Swamy!”
“ In this way, we are serving all villages, towns. Serve all.This is
what I say to my children. If any of your firneds are struggling
help them,never mind, even if you have to skip your college. I
shouldn’t tell My self, about my students, in reality they are much
more what I said. If any one doesn’t have clothes, they give their
own clothes. This is how they are trained here.In primary school,
there are so many tiny tots. They are 1200 of them. In just 2 days,
they forget their parents and stay with us. Parents, as they watch
they are very much surprised. We are loving our kids, more than
their parents. Our students are great.. THEY ARE GOING TO BE THE
LEADERS OF THIS COUNTRY..
This will make us happy”
Swamy now turned to the students and asked “ARE YOU PREPARED TO BE
IDEAL BOYS” There was a big YES from students.. Swamy with a sweet
smile ended His one hour long divine discourse..
While the bhajans were going on, Pala Kova (sweet made of milk and
dry fruits), prasad was distributed..
So Sweet Swamy!! .. . You made our DAY… it was a very lengthy
discourse, but FULL OF ATMA GNANA…..
Thank You Swamy for letting us witness yet another beautiful day in
YOUR presence….
(The above discourse is based on memory and not the official release
refer the official version which will be released in due course)

This morning, being Krishna Janmashtami day, Bhagawan’s pet elephant
Sai Gita, cows and calves from Sai Gokulam were brought in
procession to the entrance of Sai Kulwant Hall. Bhagawan went to the
main front entrance of Sai Kulwant Hall to feed Sai Gita, the cows
and calves marking the significance of the occasion. The ritualistic
proceeding of Athi Rudra Maha Yajna continued on 8 th day and the
morning session concluded with Maha Managalarathi at 9:45 a.m.
before Bhagawan retired to Yajur Mandiram.

The first speaker for the day was Sri Nirbhayananda Saraswati,
President of Ramakrishna Vivekananda Mission, Bangalore. Sri
Saraswati had the rare distinction of having addressed the World
Parliament of Religions in Barcelona, Spain in the year 2004. A
social activist, Sri Saraswati is also the Chief Editor of Viveka
Deept, Kannada Spiritual Magazine.

Offering reverential pranams at Bhagawan’s Lotus Feet, addressing
the huge gathering he said that Bhagawan has done single-handedly
what many governments put together could not do. When we come to
Puttaparthi, we are made to believe that the day is not so far when
the whole world will become one family.

The second Speaker for the day was Sri Krishan Bhagwat, an MBBS
student, an alumnus of Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Pre-University
College, Alike who had secured first rank in CET and Board exams in
the year 2003. Citing from Bhagawan’s Discourse the other day, Sri
Krishan said that “we are all your children and we all know that
Swami has the love of thousands of mothers; there is no doubt that
Swami is showering His love unconditionally. Our prayer is, as
children please give us strength to love you wholeheartedly…and on
behalf of everyone the only prayer is we want You…You…only You.

Sri Sanjay Mahalingam, the third speaker who was specially called by
Bhagawan to deliver an extempore speech is currently doing his Ph.D.
at Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Prasnathi Nilayam.
Sri Mahalingam who gave a wonderful rhetoric excellence stressed the
importance of Real Yajna that a human being should pursue: to seek
God, to seek Wisdom, to seek Beauty and Goodness; to seek Spiritual
Eminence, Nobility and to seek the Splendour of our own True
Self…continuously, unceasingly with all our heart and soul…and every
desire of our heart should be offered at the Yajna Kunda for the one
desire…to be One with Him.

Bhagawan began His Divine Discourse
with a Telugu poem meaning… There is no greater charity that feeding
the poor; there is no greater God that parents; there is no greater
penance that adherence to truth; there is no greater Dharma than
compassion. What is more profitable in this world that the company
of good people?

All that we find in this world is the creation of God. All that we
find in the three periods of time are also the creation of God.
Describing the all-pervasive cosmic nature of Divinity through a
poem, Bhagawan said: Is it possible to limit the One to a temple who
pervades the entire cosmos? How can one offer food to the One who
has the entire cosmos in His belly? How can one give a bath to the
One who is present in all rivers? God is in the form of an atom. (At
this point Bhagawan materialized a miniature-size Linga). The world
goes by the external form. No one can understand Divinity. No one
decide the material that can be offered to God.

Describing the significance and the rationale behind performing this
Yajna, Bhagawan said, some learned people may think why large
quantities of grain, ghee and other materials are offered in the
fire. Can they not be used for serving the poor and the needy? He
explained the same through an anecdote: A farmer collects large
quantities of paddy, immerse them in water, dries and sows it in
various parts of the field. Is it right on the part of the farmer to
do so? Will it give him good results?...one may ask. One knows very
well that at the time of harvest, the farmer reaps double the
quantity of what he sowed. In the same manner, Yajnas performed by
the priests will surely give good results. Never consider them as
waste. The grain and ghee that is offered as worship to God in the
sacrificial fire will give results multifold in future. What we have
to offer to God are our desires in a spirit of renunciation. If you
do so, you will get good results in future.

Emphasising what He had told in his earlier discourses, Bhagawan
said, man is verily God. First of all, he should have unity, which
leads to purity and ultimately, he becomes it leads to Divinity. Man
is the embodiment of the Divine Atma. Bhagawan further mentioned
that people have misconception that Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara are
separate. All the three are one and the same. Giving the example of
paan, Bhagawan said that betel leaf, betel nut and slaked lime, all
three are essential for getting the resultant red colouor while
chewing. Though the three ingredients are of different colours, they
combine to give the red colour. Therefore, Brahma, Vishnu and
Maheswara are not different. People consider divinity to be varied
and spoil their minds.

Underlying the ficklenss of life, Bhagawan narrated the story of
Alexander. The great emperor entered Bharat through the SindhuRiver
to conquer Bharat. But, suddenly goa heart attack and the doctor
declared that there are no chances of his survival. So, Alexander
directed his soldiers to keep his hands outstretched, protruding out
of the coffin while the funeral procession is taken in the streets
of his kingdom. This was to signify that such a mighty emperor had
to go empty- handed.

“Even Kind Harischandra, who strictly followed the path of Truth,
had to leave this world ultimately leaving behind his vast kingdom
and riches. Emperor Nala, who reigned over a great empire, could not
take with him anything when he passed away. Did king Mandhata, who
adorned the Krita Yuga, carry any wealth with him when he left the
earth? Even Lord Rama, who built the bridge across the ocean, is not
to be seen on the earth today. Many kings have ruled over the earth,
but none of them could carry even a fistful of dust with them. Oh
noble one! do you think you can carry the kingdom and its riches on
your head when you leave the world? Money is necessary to man, but
only to a certain extent.

Bhagawan said that what man should aspire for is peace. “This is My
desire”, Bhagawan said. Everything is contained in peace. Bhagawan
extolled the ideal qualities of students and concluded His Divine
Discourse.

DESIRE
FOR PEACE, NOT WEALTH
16th August 2006
Embodiments of Love!
The speakers who spoke earlier told excellent things. After
hearing them, I don’t think there is anything further to be told.
There is no charity greater than feeding the hungry,
There are no greater gods than parents,
There is no greater dharma than compassion,
There is no greater gain than the company of the good,
There is no enemy greater than anger,
There is no wealth greater than good reputation,
Bad reputation is death itself,
There is no ornament more beautiful than the chanting of God’s
Name.
(Telugu poem)

Embodiments of Love!
We are born out of and dependent upon anna (food). We cannot live
for a moment without food. From where does this food come? It
emanates from Lord Shankara, whose nature is infinite, who is
unique and whom neither the words can describe nor the mind can
comprehend. All the objects that we see in this world are the
creation of God. All that is visible - in the past, present and
future - is God’s creation. Mother Parvati is the only individual
who realised this truth. Before she married Shankara, all the
Devatas (celestial beings) approached her and questioned her,
Oh! Gowri! You are very young and
Sambashiva is old;
He has matted locks and
wears a tiger skin;
He rides a bull and
is constantly on the move;
He is adorned with snakes;
How did you court Him?
Don’t you know all this?
He has no house of His own and
sleeps in the burial ground.
(Telugu poem)

They confronted Parvati with these discouraging arguments and
tried to dissuade her from marrying Lord Shiva. Parvati then
replied, “You are all seeing the outward appearance of Lord Shiva
and are deluded to think that it is His real form. You are not
able to realise His true nature which is abhouthika (beyond the
physical form), aloukika (other than worldly) and Saswatha
(eternal). You are concerned only about the beauty of the physical
body and the wealth and prosperity in the worldly sense. Your
vision is limited to the body, mind and intellect. Hence, you are
able to see only the physical aspects of Lord Shiva. You are not
able to visualise His subtle nature immanent in Him, namely,
Divinity. He is neither the body, nor the mind. He is Lingakara
(His form resembles that of a Linga). However, that Linga is not
visible to anyone. It is located in His kantha (throat). I am the
only one who has seen His true form. That is why I want to marry
Him. You are able to see only the physical form, that too to a
certain extent. But, God is not limited to this form. He is
Anoraneeyan Mahato Maheeyan (subtler than the subtlest and vaster
than the vastest). When you are able to visualise that cosmic
form, you will not at all think about the physical form. You will
not be concerned with His age. Lord Shiva, whom I am going to
marry is not the one begging for alms; in fact He gives alms to
all!” Exactly at that moment Lord Shiva manifested before her. He
appeared as very beautiful and young. In fact, more youthful than
Gowri. Lord Shiva and Parvati are a perfect match to each other.
The Devatas were dumbfounded. Thus, people are deluded to think
something, but what ultimately happens is altogether different.
Not all people can realise the inner Truth.

The worldly people aspire for physical beauty and happiness. But,
a truthful nature is essential to recognise the embodiments of
Truth. No one can describe the nature of Divinity as this and
that.

Is it possible to limit the One to a temple who pervades the
entire cosmos? How can one hold a lamp to the One who shines with
the brilliance of a billion suns? How can one attribute a form to
the One whom even Brahma, the Creator, cannot comprehend? How can
one give a name to the One who is present in all beings? How can
one offer food to the One who has the entire cosmos in His belly?
(Telugu poem)

God’s form is the subtlest. It is verily a minute form. “That is
this” (Swami created a Linga by a wave of His hand and held it out
for all to see). This (the Linga created by Bhagawan) exactly
resembles that Linga (the one being worshipped by the chief priest
daily).

The general mass of people are like crows. Blinded by ignorance,
they see only the external form. No one can lay down a rule that
only such and such material is to be offered to God. Several
English-educated and ‘modern’ people today comment, “What is this!
When several poor people are starving for food, you are throwing
so much paddy and ghee into the fire and wasting it! Instead, you
can feed some poor people with that material. Is it not true?” Our
chief priest can explain to such people the rationale behind this
ritual thus: “Sirs! Today a farmer sows five bags of paddy in a
field. When they sprout, he transplants them in the entire field
and waters them. Can anyone say that he is throwing valuable paddy
into mud and water? Ultimately, he reaps a harvest of fifty bags.
Similarly, the rituals being performed by the Ritwiks (priests)
confer great benefit on humanity; they are never a waste. Whatever
is offered to God today is like this paddy and ghee; they all
confer great benefit to humanity at a later date. Just as a bag of
paddy sown in a field multiplies itself into fifty bags, similarly
all the materials that are offered to Agnihothra (the fire-god)
multiply themselves several times.”

There is only one thing that is to be offered to God by us. There
are several desires, nestled in our heart. All these desires have
to be offered to God. Whatever is offered to God with no desire
for the fruit thereof, will confer great benefit at a later date.
Unable to realise this truth, people in general give importance to
the external and worldly matters. They formulate their opinions on
the basis of what they see outwardly. Whatever is offered to God,
comes back to us thousandfold.

The external form is like a package. Unless this packing is
removed, the material that is packed inside will not be visible to
us. Divinity in nature is covered by the Panchabhutas (five
elements). We are unable to visualise Divinity due to Kama,
Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada and Matsarya (desire, anger, greed,
infatuation, pride and jealousy). Remove this package. Then, the
beautiful and blissful form of God will manifest before you. You
should not give importance to the package. The external package
may be very beautiful. However, unless you open this package you
will not be able to see the object inside and its condition.
Several people will be attracted by the external appearance of the
package and get deceived. But, this is not the case with Divinity.
The physical beauty and the senses will only be visible to the
outward vision.

The body is made up of five elements and is bound to perish sooner
or later but the indweller has neither birth nor death. The
indweller has no attachment whatsoever and is the eternal witness.
Truly speaking, the indweller who is in the form of the Atma, is
verily God Himself. (Telugu poem)

The Divine nature of that Lord of the Lords is thus packed in this
physical body. Hence, we should not feel contented with this
external package. Divinity is immanent in us. You are God, verily!
God is all-pervading. Hence, you are also all-pervading. Divinity
is present in you as well as in all living beings. If you wish to
have the vision of God, you must lead a pure, unwavering and
selfless life. All the diversity that you see in this objective
world is a waste! Hence, remove this diversity and develop unity.
Where there is unity, there will be purity. Where there is purity,
there Divinity will manifest. In fact, you are not one individual.
There are three individuals in you (i) the one you think you are
(ii) the one others think you are and (iii) the one you really
are. You are an embodiment of the Divine Atma, verily. Not
realising this truth, you are leading your life giving importance
to the body, mind and intellect. All these are bound to perish one
day or the other. I will explain to you about this in detail,
later. Sing the glory of the Divine name:
(Bhagawan then sang the song “Shiva Shiva Shiva Shiva yanaraada …”
and asked the devotees to follow. Thereafter, He continued His
discourse thus …)

The Mantra ‘Namasshivaya’ contains five letters. It is a glorious
and sacred Mantra. It is Nirgunam, Niranjanam, Sanathanam,
Niketanam, Nitya, Shuddha, Buddha, Mukta, Nirmala Swarupinam (God
is attributeless, pure, final abode, eternal, unsullied,
enlightened, free and embodiment of sacredness). You have to
preserve such a sacred Mantra securely in your heart. People
generally think that Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the
sustainer and Shiva is the destroyer. In fact, they are three
rolled into One. If you wish to have a paan, you must procure
three items - betel leaves, betel nut and slaked lime (chunnam).
It is only when these three ingredients are chewed together, your
mouth and lips will become red. From where did this red colour
come? From betel leaves? From betel nuts? Or from lime? Not any
one of them exclusively. Only when the three items are chewed
together, the red colour appears. Similarly, God is all the three
- Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara coming together. The unity of all
three aspects is Divinity. Do not attribute diversity to God and
spoil your mind. You will surely be able to experience the oneness
of these three aspects of God.

Once, it appears that Parvati had proposed to Lord Easwara that
they should build a house for themselves. She prayed to Him, “Oh!
Lord! You go about places begging for alms. We have not been able
to prepare homely food. We have no house to take shelter. How can
I manage this family?” Easwara then explained to her, “Parvati!
Will it be all right if we build a house? The rats will occupy the
house even before we move into it. Then, a cat has to be kept
ready to kill the rats. The cat needs milk. For that purpose, we
have to purchase a cow. To purchase a cow, money is required. It
is all a big botheration. You think it is so easy to build a house
and maintain it. No, no! We should not aspire for such things.
Once you liked Me and married Me, you should leave everything to
Me. You should not wish for these paraphernalia.”

All the wealth like money, gold, houses, land, property, vehicles,
etc., in this world is transitory and a waste. Alexander set out
on a victory march. He conquered several countries in the world
and finally set his foot in Bharat. He reached the river Sind. It
is near Kashmir. He tried to cross that river. Exactly at that
moment he suffered from a ‘heart attack’. The doctors examined him
and declared that there were no chances of his recovering. Then he
called his ministers and other officials and told them, “I am not
at all worried that I am dying. I am, in fact, happy. However, I
have a small desire to be fulfilled. After my death, please wrap
my body in a white cloth keeping my empty hands straight facing
the sky and take it in a procession through every street in my
village. The people will, of course, enquire why were the hands of
the king kept in such a position. Then, you explain to them that
Alexander was a great conqueror. He had a big army and a number of
friends and relatives. He accumulated great wealth by conquering
several countries. Yet, at the time of death, he left his mortal
coil with empty hands.”

Even King Harischandra, who strictly followed the path of truth,
had to leave this world ultimately leaving behind his vast kingdom
and riches. Emperor Nala, who reigned over a great empire, could
not take with him anything when he passed away. Did King Mandhata,
who adorned the Krita Yuga, carry any wealth with him when he left
the earth? Even Lord Rama, who built the bridge across the ocean,
is not to be seen on the earth today. Many kings have ruled over
the earth, but none of them could carry even a fistful of dust
with them. Oh noble ones! do you think you can carry the riches on
your head when you leave the world?

(Telugu poem)

No one can take even a paisa along with him, at the time of his
death. Not even a handful of earth. Man considers himself to be
great and rich. Recently, a person bought an acre of land in
Hyderabad paying rupees 40 crores. While returning from the
Registrar’s office after registering the land in his favour, he
suddenly collapsed. Of what use it is accumulating crores worth of
wealth? What is important to a human being is his guna (noble
qualities) not dhana (money). Daivabala (the strength that comes
from God) is most important for us. If you develop divine
feelings, everything will be added unto you. No doubt, money is
important for, we have to eat food with the money we earn.
However, excess of wealth is bad. It may even lead to losing one’s
life sometimes. We must have enough money to sustain our family.
We must also help the society to a certain extent. We are living
in the society. Without society, we cease to exist. Hence, we have
to show our gratitude to the society. First ‘self’ and then
‘help’. Humanness can survive only if these two exist. We should
not be ‘selfish’. It is said a fish is better than selfish. We
must lead a happy life doing selfless service to the society.

I am always happy and blissful. I do not know what sorrow is; what
difficulty is; what pain is. Once the President of India visited
Prasanthi Nilayam. He enquired from Me during an interview,
“Swami! Do you also have desires?” I told him, “I have only one
desire. I must be what I am. I should not depend on others. I must
give happiness to everybody. It is only when everyone is happy,
that I am happy.” What more do I need? Everyone approaches Me with
a request, “Swami! I want peace.” But where is peace? It is verily
in our inner self. All that exists outside is only “pieces”. We
don’t need it. Peace has to be manifested from our own inner self.
It is only when we spend our lives basing on this principle, that
our lives will be sanctified. Whatever Sadhanas (spiritual
practices) we may undertake, whatever texts we may read or
whatever high academic degrees we may acquire, all that have to be
left in this world when the end comes. People do not take even one
of these appendages along with them in their journey to the other
world. Hence, I wish that all of you should lead a peaceful life.
It is My wish that you should develop a desire for peace. Of what
use it is to have wealth, if you don’t develop a charitable
disposition?

The boy who spoke just now, comes from a great family. His
grandfather’s name is Margabandhu. His father is a bank manager.
It is three years since he joined our college, leaving the college
in Delhi where he was studying earlier. He is doing Ph.D. on the
teachings of Swami, since then. He never associates himself with
anyone. He will always be alone. He obeys Swami’s commands
implicitly and performs whatever work is entrusted to him. He
gives very good lectures on philosophy. He is studying Sankara’s
life and philosophy. Everything about Sankara’s Advaita philosophy
is at his finger tips. There are several such boys in our
institution. He came to Puttaparthi only for undertaking such
Tapas (penance). The second speaker today is also our student. All
these boys are very great.

You have Vedanarayana here. His name itself is Vedanarayana. Last
year, he received the best teacher award from the President of
India. While presenting the award to him, the President enquired
from him, “Where do you go, after receiving this award?”
Vedanarayana replied, “I am going back to Puttaparthi. I don’t go
anywhere else.” The President then advised him, “Dear Son! You are
a very good boy. Please stay there itself.” The President is a
Muslim. Yet, He has great devotion towards Swami. Several such
high dignitaries visit Puttaparthi and bless our children.

Every year, about five hundred students join our educational
institutions. We do not advertise our academic achievements in
newspapers. But, all our students get first class only. Two boys
from our Alike institution secured first ranks in the Medical and
Engineering entrance test. I gave them scholarships. When they go
for higher education to America, I will take up the responsibility
of educating them in those institutions. I told those boys, “Not
only here, you should come out in first ranks in America also.”

All our children are like gold, not impure gold, but pure and
unalloyed gold! They are prepared to undertake any work that is
entrusted to them. These boys go to the villages every year for
one month to undertake service. They take rice and other
provisions along with them and cook there and serve to all the
villagers. They serve food to every individual in every family,
irrespective of the number of members in the family. The villagers
affectionately greet these boys, “Dear children! Did our Swami
send you here!” The villagers feel very happy with the service
rendered by our students. On the day of visit of our boys to the
village, the villagers keep their houses clean and decorate them
with floral designs. They receive Swami’s prasadam with great
devotion and reverence and partake of it, happily. It is once
again time to send our boys to the villages to distribute Swami’s
prasadam. Our boys are adepts not only in education, but in sports
and games; dance and music as well. There is no work which our
boys cannot undertake. Wherever they go, whether in the villages
or towns, our boys are very careful to keep up their character.
Our boys and girls treat character as their very life-breath.

There are 700 girl students in the Anantapur campus. They are also
coming out in 1st class. They also go to the villages to do grama
seva. They demolish the old and dilapidated houses and build new
houses in the villages. The girls by themselves build pucca houses
with stones and cement. They are doing a lot of service to the
poor. When the villagers were enquired about the quality of their
work (whether they were leaking), we were informed, “No Swami!
Your girls did a wonderful job. Our houses are very safe. Even the
engineers are happy with their work. They did it all free of
cost.” Our boys are also doing great service in the villages.
Thus, our students from all the three campuses of Prasanthi
Nilayam, Bangalore and Anantapur are visiting the villages and
helping the villagers.

Our boys and girls did not come here merely for education. My
sincere advice to any student seeking admission in our
Institutions is, “Please do not come here only for education and
acquiring academic degrees.” You can certainly pursue your
education. But, the foremost requirement is Seva. For what purpose
did God give you the human body? Only for serving others. Lord
Krishna declared in the Bhagawad Gita, Mamaivamsho Jivaloke
Jivabhuta Sanathana (the eternal Atma in all beings is a part of
My Being). All are verily the amsa (part) of the same Divinity.
Hence, you should serve all. “Service is God, serve all”. Our
students are earning a good name only because they put into
practice such teachings of Swami. Wherever they go, people show
great love and affection towards the students of Sri Sathya Sai
Educational Institutions. The moment they see these boys and girls
clad in white dress, they shower great praise on them saying,
“These boys and girls belong to Sathya Sai, they are all very
good.” The dress our students wear is of white colour as also
their hearts. They are pure and sacred.

You are witnessing every day how these boys are bringing Me into
this Kulwant Hall and taking Me back to My residence! These two
boys completed their MBA degree. The third boy is studying MBBS.
Adikesavulu gave him a seat in the Vaidehi Medical College. He is
admitting several such boys. If you want to have a seat in the
Medical College anywhere else, huge amount of donation is to be
paid. Besides, there is the monthly fee of Rupees two to three
thousand. But, he did not collect even a paisa from us. He
admitted several of our boys in his Institution. He is a great
Thyagi (man of sacrifice). He lives near the Sathya Sai Super
Speciality Hospital in Bangalore. We have built three Hospitals in
Bangalore itself. There are instruments worth crores of Rupees in
each of these Hospitals. If anyone is to get a heart operation
done in any of the Super Speciality Hospitals outside, lakhs of
rupees have to be spent. That being the position, several people
are coming to our hospitals and getting heart operations done free
of cost.

I have resolved to provide education, medicine and life-sustaining
drinking water to the people free of cost. We are supplying
drinking water to the upland areas in the East and West Godavari
districts of Andhra Pradesh by laying pipes up to the hilltop.
There is adequate amount of water flowing in these two districts.
But, the people living in the upland villages were not getting
drinking water. Even after so many years, they were suffering for
want of drinking water. Hence, we have taken up a project at a
cost of 80 crores to supply drinking water to these people by
laying pipes. They expressed their gratitude to Swami saying, “It
is years since we drank sweet drinking water. Today, we are able
to drink pure and sweet water once again. We are very happy and
grateful to You, Swami!”

Not only that. We have also provided drinking water to all the
people in Chennai city, irrespective of their social strata. The
citizens of Chennai city came in 50 buses to Puttaparthi to
express their gratitude to Swami for this munificence. They
conveyed their feelings saying, “How do we express our gratitude
to you, Swami! Words fail us.” I told them, “You need not say
thanks to Me. I gave drinking water to My own people.” You may not
know, since you are all here. It has been published in the
newspapers day before yesterday that water has been supplied to
the Chennai city from the Poondi reservoir. It is only yesterday
that water reached Chennai at the right time.

The people of Mahboobnagar and Medak districts approached Me and
represented, “Swami! We have no pure water.” I responded
immediately and arranged for the supply of drinking water from the
Krishna river to the people of these two districts.

Thus, we have taken up a number of service projects for the
benefit of people living in the villages of all areas, not only in
our country, but all the countries in the world. Our motto is,
“Love All; Serve All!” You should also emulate our example. This
is what I teach to our children. If you come to know that someone
is suffering, whether he happens to be your friend or otherwise,
you must serve him. If necessary apply for leave that day to the
college and help him. I should not praise My boys; but, they are
doing more than what I instructed them to do. They are helping
others, even sacrificing their own self. We are producing such
ideal students with a spirit of sacrifice and service. That is
why, they are progressing in every field in the country as well as
abroad.

There are 1200 small children in the Primary School. They are
still in the age group, when normally they should be attached to
their parents. But, once they join in our school they forget their
parents and develop to a stage where they cannot live without us.
The parents come here and see for themselves the change that has
taken place in their children. They are surprised and also feel
happy, “Aha! What a great change has taken place in our children!”
In fact, we are showing great love towards the children more than
their own parents.

Thus, I can go on speaking about our children. Don’t consider them
as ordinary human beings. They are very great. They deserve to be
the leaders of our country, when they grow up. I only wish that
our children should be ideal children. Then only will I be happy.

August 16th, the 7th day of the Athi Rudra Maha Yajnam also happened to
coincide with Shri Krishnajanmashtami celebrations. Swami entered Sai
Kulwant Hall at 7.20 A.M and after completing the Darshan round, sat on
the sofa to monitor the yajnam proceedings. Today’s programme had
commenced at 5 A.M and by the time Swami had come, the Ritwiks had
finished the Arunaparayanam, Mahanyasam, Panchamrutha Abhishekam and
were chanting the Rudram. At about 7:50 am, Swami’s students had came in
a procession from Swami’s “Gokulam” leading His pet cows, fawns, and the
apple of Swami’s eye, His very own Sai Gita. When Swami saw the
procession and His children from the animal kingdom, He immediately
motioned to be wheeled near the main gate. Through the Yajna mantapam,
between the homa kundams, He came down unto the Rama statue gate and
showered His love on them.

Firstly, the latest entrant in Gokulam, a 5 day old calf was fed by
Swami. He took a feeding bottle with milk and watched the calf lovingly
as it guzzled away intently and happily. It was heart-rending to see
tears streaming down Sai Gita’s eyes when Swami was feeding her. It was
testimony of the love that the Lord and His pet shared. Swami had her
called for a second round of feeding too. Then the fawn received His
grace following which the strong and healthy cows were brought too. For
them there were apples and bananas. All the while, the students’ bhajan
group were singing Krishna bhajans whole heartedly and full throated.
Having showered His love and grace, Swami returned to the sofa on centre
stage.

After sitting there for a few minutes, Swami continued to shower His
love - this time the recipients were the Khan Brothers who had
enthralled the audience with an exquisite musical rendering last
evening. Swami went into the interview room and the chanting continued.
The Rudram homam was followed by the Sai Gayathri homam. This was
followed by recital of small portions from the four Vedams, and then
‘Nadaswaram’ . At about 9:10 am, Swami came out and sat again.
Mahamangala Aarthi was taken at 9:40 am after which Swami retired to
Yajur Mandiram.

The evening proceeded similarly to the previous days. Swami came out of
the Yajur Mandiram at 3:18 pm as the Mangala Vadyam ushered Him into the
Kulwant Hall musically. He immediately called for the speeches as soon
as He sat down at 3:25 pm. Sri Vinay Kumar introduced the speakers for
the day. The first speaker was Sri Nirbhayananda Saraswati, head of the
Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Ashram at Bangalore who was to elucidate the
significance of the Athi Rudra Maha Yagnam. He had spoken at the World
Parliament of Religions at Barcelona in 2004.

He started off by paying his homage to Swami, who could single handedly
achieve what no other organization, government or any country could ever
achieve. A gist of his speech follows:

“How to achieve the concept of Vasudeiva Kutumbakam (the whole world as
a single family) seems to be a million dollar question even with the
establishment of League of Nations, United Nations etc. but when one
enters the village of Puttaparthi it is obvious that it is easily
possible for we can see it in action. Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba has
found various institutions with that very intention. Without further ado
let me dive into the topic given to me.

The Rudram, a portion of the Yajur Veda which is divided into the
Krishna paksha and Shukla paksha, occurs in the Taitreya Shaka. To be
precise it occurs in the 5th and 7th prapatakas of the Vaishvadeva kanda.
That is the source of the Rudram chanted here. The Rudram is very
lyrical, musical and uplifting since it is divine in nature. Once a
student of sage Yagnavakhya asked, “How can immortality be reached?” To
this the sage replied by chanting shata rudra, that is eleven rithwiks
chanting Rudra 11 times is enough to attain immortality. The Athi Rudra
Yagnam is the chanting of the 14641 times, which is when 121 people
chant the Rudram 11 times a day for 11 days. Shatananda Rishi says that
the Athi Rudram can render virtues, graces, magnetism, wealth, peace of
the world, enhancing the longevity of life, enhancing health- social,
political, economic. Rudra means one who wards of difficulties that
arise of the mediocrities in life. Lord Dakshinamuthy, a form of the
Rudra has a very unique way of teaching. His students would come to Him
with doubts and sit in His presence. He would clear all doubts through
silence! They would go after sitting some time with all their doubts
clarified.

A metaphysical definition of the Rudra is also present in the Vedas
which will easily clear the doubts of the modern day scientific mind.
The spiritual science is the essence of all sciences since it explains
the Truth itself, and not manifestations of the Truth which the other
sciences deal with. The Rudra is described as the Sadchidananda
Swaroopa. He is beyond the mind. So no words could capture Him. He gave
into the influence of Maya and therefore became encased in the facets of
Time, Space and Causation. Shiva, Vishnu and Devi. Creation depends on
all these three. Shiva represents time. He is known as Mahakala in
Ujjain. Mortality depends on Him. Therefore it is certain that when the
Lord is worshipped, there will be enhancement of life in the world.
There will be AYUSH KAMA, enhancing of Health-economic, social and
spiritual. Hence there will be Universal Peace.”

The second speaker was Sri Krishan Bhagwath, a student who is pursuing
his MBBS, an alumnus of the Loka Seva Trust institution at Alike which
is under Bhagawan's supervision. He spoke about the role of Youth in
modern day life. He highlighted the fact that at the centre of violence,
disoriented youth are always found. He said that the youth had to
transform in the Sai way. Then and only then will there be Universal
peace. He also used Swami’s description of the Youth, where Swami
compares them to Hanuman, who is courageous, valorous and mighty but is
also devoted and humble. So he said that the youth should follow the
footsteps of Hanuman as advised by Swami.

Then Swami called out to one of the research scholars of the Sri Sathya
Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Sri Sanjay Mahalingam, and asked him
to speak. He presented a well designed and structured logical flow of
the Truth behind the Self, the Individual. The fact that the speech was
impromptu was unbelievable. It was clear exhibition of clarity of
thought. He began with a story (which Bhagawan has narrated) of a
conversation between Vyasa and an insect, which highlights the moral
that verily man and animals are same in all aspects like food, family,
death, birth, fear, etc. The rest of the speech was an analysis of how
the humans can differ from this very banal similarity. The fundamental
questions like ‘Who are you?’, ‘Where do you come from?’, ‘Where do you
go?’ all remain mystical and mysterious. He then narrated a story which
highlighted the fact that the more we learn about the cosmos and the
creation the more ignorant we become and the secret of understanding is
to know thyself - and you shall know all. He went on to say, quoting Adi
Sankara, that it was very difficult to attain human birth and we should
make full use of it and understand the self in order to get
emancipation. Time engulfs everything and everything is a victim of the
onslaught of time. Everything is ephemeral and therefore in the little
time that we have we must divert our attention to the Cosmic Being who
is beyond time and space and only then we can also transcend this Time.
The essence of all spirituality, the messages of all the spiritual
masters is just one. It is a single syllable that encases all of
spirituality-‘I’. The self realization is the greatest of all Truths. So
the question that comes to the mind is, “What do I need to know Myself?”
The answer is given in the Upanishads, essentially three types of
enquiry. The nethi which highlights the fact that as long as there is a
knower, known and the process of knowing the Self is different. Hence we
are not the body. The Kena Upanishad keeps the spirit of inquisitiveness
alive and asks the seeker to question the very source of everything. He
ended with a reference to the sacrifice by saying that we should offer
all our desires in the sacrificial altar and crave for this ultimate
knowledge of Truth.

Swami then retired to the interview room for a few minutes as the dais
was made ready for the discourse. Within a few minutes Swami emerged
from the interview room and blessed the audience with His Divine
Discourse. A summary of the discourse follows:

“Embodiments of Love!
The preceding speakers have explained very well, very little is left for
Me to speak.

More than offering food as charity to the hungry man can there be a
greater act of charity?

Parents are man’s Gods. So it is said in the scriptures. There is no
other penance greater than that of truth, no other path greater than
compassion, nothing more profitable than the company of good people.

Embodiments of Love!
We live by partaking food. Without partaking food it is not possible to
live. Where from does this food come? Everything can thus be traced back
to the Source. It is the Infinite Principle that is the source of
everything. All objects the seen and the unseen are all creations of
God. The past, the present and the future are manifestations of God.

The real truth is cognized only by Parvati. All deities assemble and ask
her, “Who is Shiva? He has got matted hair and locks all over him. He
wears the tiger skin for dress. The bull is his chariot and he rests in
the burial ground. He begs for his food. How is it that you married
him?” Parvati laughed and replied, “You all think of the physical and
mundane worlds and form, at the level of the body and the mind. You all
must look within. In that context, Shiva is that lingam which has its
boundaries beyond infinity, beyond the comprehension of the mind. He is
the smallest of the small and biggest of the big. To know the truth one
should attain the temperament of truth. None can understand His form.

He is all brilliance with the effulgence of a thousand suns. Can you
hold a candle against such dazzling brightness? When He is the oceans
that can engulf all of land and all seas, can you give Him a bath?

The whole society and world shouts for they are blind. They go only by
the external form. We worship what we see everyday. None can decide what
to offer to God. Many question the purpose of the Yagna. They are asking
questions like - Why pour so many grains into the altar? Why so much
ghee is poured? They say that instead it can be given to the poor and
needy. Here is an anology to clarify understanding. When the farmer
finishes with the plough, he takes a few bags of paddy and sprinkles it
all over the fields. Is it that he is just throwing it away? He only
does it so as to reap the harvest at a later time when the paddy fields
become rich. He gets much more than what he had thrown. Similarly
whatever is cast into the Yagnam will never go waste. It will come back
many folds. The grain, the ghee offered will give multiple profits in
the future. Whatever is offered to God will come back in abundance.

Everyone goes by outer form and external appearances without looking
within. No one sees the inner reality. Only Parvati did, so the Great
Shiva accepted her as His consort. Nowadays everyone goes by the
external packaging. They get lost in the beauty of the packaging. One
has to break through the packaging to explore what is inside. The true
beauty lies inside, it lies within. Divinity is within us. Everywhere
there is man and God is within man. To realize this man must remove the
package. You should first be united with the soul, out of which purity
arises from which there is Divinity. You are not one but three. The one
that other think you are (identification by the body), the one that you
think that you are (your mind in action) and the one that you really
are. You are not the mind and the body but you are truly the ONE. (At
this point of time, Swami sat down and sang the bhajan, “Shiva, Shiva,
Shiva, Shiva Yena Radha…”)

Namah Shivaya, is five letters which goes around the five worlds. It’s
the purest of all, all effulgent and all beautiful. Brahma, the
generator, Vishnu, the sustainer and Shiva, the destroyer are all
different only at the mundane level. The creation requires the action of
all three of them as a single entity. The red colour arises of the
combination of the three components betel leaves, betel nut and the
chunnam.

All worldly possessions, acquisitions and wealth are ephemeral. Nothing
is permanent. Alexander the Great was in India near the Sindhu river. He
was marching in for conquests. At that time he suffered a heart attack.
The doctors said that it was fatal. Alexander wanted his coffin to be so
designed that his two hands were outside and taken in a procession all
over his kingdom. When the procession was going on, the question was,
why such a strange request? The great king that he was, the conquests
that he made, the wars that he won, he was going empty handed at the
time of death. Nothing that he conquered or won was going with him. To
indicate this, such a request was made. Similarly Harishchandra, the
embodiment of Truth, also took nothing. So also the great King Nala.
Only the good deeds will come with you when you leave this world. So we
must help and serve others.

Swami is constantly blissful, there is nothing as worry. When the
President asked Swami what He wanted, Swami just replied that in
everyone’s well being and happiness alone lies Swami’s happiness.
Therefore all must pray for the Peace of the entire world. In Peace
everything else is contained. The boy who spoke prior to Me, comes from
college in Delhi. He is right now pursuing his Ph.D in the Management.
He obeys every command of Swami. He reads good books and gives very good
talks. He has read all the works of Sankara and has all the books of
Sankara. He has very good dtermination. The other boy who spoke is
currently pursuing his MBBS. He is also our student. There is one more
student called Veda Narayanan, true to his name he is an expert in
Vedas. He became a teacher and received the best teacher award last year
from the President of India. He also told the President that he has
settled in Puttaparthi. The President congratulated him for his
decision.

Annually we have around 500 boys in our college. All of them secure
first class marks in their academics. They do not publicize in
newspapers. These students are really great, whatever Swami says they
are ready to follow. The boys are pure gold. The students are good in
all fields - music, dance, sports, you name it - they are excellent. But
the best part is our students are very careful about character.
Character is most important to them all.

Ever year the students take part in the Annual Grama Seva. The students
from Anantapur, Brindavan and Prasanti Nilayam campuses go from village
to village and help the villagers there. They go and give food to
villagers, help in construction and repairs. Hence they have very good
name in society. People say that they are true to the white colored
dress that they wear.

Swami has vowed that He will take care of food, clothing and water for
all. So, crores of money has been spent in order to realize this. Water
has been supplied to the whole of Chennai city, East Godavari and other
water-scarcity-hit districts. Around 50 buses came in from Chennai and
the people expressed their gratitude. But Swami merely replied, it is
not done for gratitude. You all belong to Me so I have done this. All
were happy. Hence we must serve all. LOVE ALL SERVE ALL.

Our students are really great. They follow this principle by the letter
and spirit. If they find any needy person they even go to the extent of
giving their own clothes. Our students are not ordinary. The are going
to be the ideals of the world. They are the Leaders of tomorrow. Swami
will explain in more detail tomorrow. Time is up for today. Now do
Bhajans and do Namasmarana.

Then the Bhajans were sung with full throated enthusiasm and fervour.
Swami sat for a few Bhajans and retired back to the Yajur Mandiram at
around 6:15 pm.
************************

S Day 8 16/08/06 Krishna
Janmashtami - Afternoon
Sai Ram All

The proceedings again started at 2.00pm, with the abhishekam and Sri
Rudrams. Swami arrived, dressed in orange, in the car and straight to
His chair. He watched the Yagnam till it finished. Two speakers talked.
Sri Ramakrishna on the significance of the Ati Rudra and its benefit for
the world. Then a student talked about Lord Shiva. Sorry can’t recollect
the details. After, Swami got up and went to the interview room. We all
thought that He wasn’t going to do a discourse. 15 minutes later, He
returned to His chair for awhile. Suddenly He motioned to get the
microphones. We all clapped in expectation of being blessed with another
Divine discourse. He talked about Shiva and Parvati, His service
projects, mentioning that water was being supplied to Madras area as He
spoke and will be inaugurated by certain ministers on the 20th. Sometime
earlier He mentioned that God resides in everyone as a small linga. Just
then He materialized by the wave of the hand a tiny golden linga and
gave it to the head pundit. With great applause. He also talked on how
important character is. As fame, degrees and money is useless when you
leave your mortal coil. You should leave with a good character. That’s
the ideal. The discourses are being printed now, so I will collect them
all to bring back . The official Sai site will no doubt publish these in
time. He talked at great length and I can’t possibly recollect all what
He said. He finished and sang Shiva, Shiva, Shivaya Namah Om bhajan.
Then the Sai Group sang more Shiva and Krishna bhajans. Aarti and then
He left. We again all lined up after He left and a Seva Dal went around
marking us all on the third eye with the linga vibhuti and linga water
was also distributed. Swami also said He would talk with us again
tomorrow. A discourse everyday. SAI RAM

If it wasn’t for the small statue of Krishna near Swami’s chair, you
wouldn’t know it was Krishna’s birthday. No signage or announcements.
Just masses and masses of people.

The morning proceedings started at 5.00am with the pundits doing the
regular abhishekam to the linga and the Rudram chants. Swami arrived
about 6.00am and went staight to His chair. He watched the proceedings
intensely. Sai Gita (Swami’s elephant) arrived in grand procession via
the driveway. Due to the driveway leading up to Swami was blocked
because of the Yagnam, Swami was wheeled down in His chair to Sai Gita
at the gate. It was hard to see this as He was surrounded by the
students, but we saw glimpses of Swami giving fruits to Gita and the
cows milk. Two white doves were also set free by Swami. After all this
and the Yagnam in full chanting, Swami was wheeled back to the podium,
where He sat for a while watching the continued Yagnam. He left soon
after for the interview room. During the Sai Gayatri Homan, He returned.
Prasad was again distributed. Aarti and then He left. Morning
proceedings finished. Starts again at 2.00pm.

If it wasn’t for the small statue of Krishna near Swami’s chair, you
wouldn’t know it was Krishna’s birthday. No signage or announcements. Just
masses and masses of people.

The morning proceedings started at 5.00am with the pundits doing the
regular abhishekam to the linga and the Rudram chants. Swami arrived about
6.00am and went staight to His chair. He watched the proceedings
intensely. Sai Gita (Swami’s elephant) arrived in grand procession via the
driveway. Due to the driveway leading up to Swami was blocked because of
the Yagnam, Swami was wheeled down in His chair to Sai Gita at the gate.
It was hard to see this as He was surrounded by the students, but we saw
glimpses of Swami giving fruits to Gita and the cows milk. Two white doves
were also set free by Swami. After all this and the Yagnam in full
chanting, Swami was wheeled back to the podium, where He sat for a while
watching the continued Yagnam. He left soon after for the interview room.
During the Sai Gayatri Homan, He returned. Prasad was again distributed.
Aarti and then He left. Morning proceedings finished. Starts again at
2.00pm.

3rd day Yajna Photos & Report also EXCERPTS FROM THE 3rd day
DISCOURSE "...Bhagawan in His Divine
Discourse underlined that it is mysterious to understand the
principle of Dakshinamoorthi…one can extol him in myriad ways… Read more
more details & download from 3rd day

Latest 2nd set of Photos of day two & Yajna News :
"...Swami then materialized a third eye for the Lingam. It was plate
in gold 1 inch by 21/2 inch in size with a red gem at its centre.
Swami Himself placed the eye on the Lingam below the sandal paste
and vermillion mark. "
Read more

9th August
ATI RUDRA MAHA YAJNAM 1st Day: "...The much awaited Athi
Rudra Maha Yajna aiming at World Peace and Prosperity to the World
at large begins in the Holy Abode of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba at
Prasanthi Nilayam in His immediate Divine Presence this afternoon at
15:00 Hrs. IST...."read moreYajna
Programme Schedule & Radio Broadcast

4th August Sai
News Update-
today morning the "Vara Lakshmi Vratham" started out with Lakhsmi
Puja in Puttaparthi. The traditional ritual of puja (pooja) was
performed to Goddess Lakshmi by Sai Baba devotees in huge numbers.
The pooja to Goddess lakshmi was incomparable and very auspicious
since it was preformed in the holy presence of Sathya Sai Baba.
Swami attended the puja and granted wonderful darshan & blessings to
all the devotees. read more

Latest Sai News from
Prasanthi Nilayam, Puttaparthi-
"...This evening, Bhagawan came for darshan at three o'clock, and
after spending a few minutes in the interview room, came outside and
sat onstage for an hour to the accompaniment of Vedic chants..." Read more

Latest Sai
Vichaar:Shri Sai Baba of Shirdi
-Weekly newsletter- 3rd,August 2006 EXPERIENCE OF DEVOTEES: Nishit:
I am here sharing my experience with you all. My sister is a strong
devotee of Sai Baba and I also used to believe in him but was never
a very staunch follower. I wanted to go to Shirdi since long but
could never make it as I believe that he call us but can't go at our
own will. "Read more

2nd August: Video clip of The Sai Intl Symphony Orchestra -
The Sai International Symphony Orchestra again performs in Sai
Kulwant Hall, with a stunning array of beautiful classical works,
with appropriate and helpful introductions to each piece. The
musicians come from 22 countries. They start off with a bhajan that
was arranged by a member of the orchestra --can you recognize it? - 350kbs100kbs20kbs

30th July: Filling The emptiness: Miracles - "Actually His miracles that are really
wonderful are the ones He performs in the consciousness and lives of
His devotees. He changes you so gently and gradually that you do not
even realise that anything is happening until one morning you really
take a good look at yourself and see that you have changed..."read more

27th July Sai News Update: "
This evening, Bhagawan came for darshan just after 3 o'clock, and
alighting from the car, went into the interview room. After a few
minutes, He came out and walked up to..."read more

23rd July, Sainews in
brief : Devotees present at Kulwant Hall today
enjoyed the wonderful and long darshan of Swami since there was a
program by devotees [singers] from Karnataka state, Swami was out on
the veranda between 3 p.m -5 30. p.m. giving us blissful darshan for
nearly 3 hours.
Pictures and details later.

What is life about..? " Life is not about keeping score. It is not about how many
friends you have..." read
more

Talks with Pedda
Reddy Garu, the caretaker of Planetarium and Sai Geeta:
Q:Tell us about Sai Geeta's early days. A:Sai Geeta was very close to Swami those days. Everyday her
duty would be to wait outside the Mandir in the morning and she
would be ready with a garland..."read
more